It has become increasingly clear that the early use of decomposition for addition is associated with later mathematical achievement. This study examined how younger children execute a base-10 decomposition strategy to solve complex arithmetic (e.g. two-digit addition). 24 addition problems in two modalities (WA: Written Arithmetic; OA: Oral…

This paper reports on the evaluation results of the implementation of the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) in a Singapore secondary school for Grades 7-10. PCM was adopted by the school in 2016 to provide a comprehensive framework for designing the school's curriculum around the core, connections, practice, and identity. Two years into the…

Creativity is the driving force of technological innovation and sustainable economic growth in the knowledge society. A central question, therefore, is how education helps to enhance creativity. As East Asian countries occupy the top of performance tests such as the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), it is most important…

This study examined 361 Chinese and 345 Singaporean sixth-grade students' performance and problem-solving strategies for solving 14 problems about speed. By focusing on students from two distinct high-performing countries in East Asia, we provide a useful perspective on the differences that exist in the preparation and problem-solving strategies…

This study focuses on elucidating and explaining reasons for the stability of and interrelationships between students' conceptions about "Light Propagation" and "Visibility of Objects" using contextualized questions across 3 years of secondary schooling from Years 7 to 9. In a large-scale quantitative study involving 1,233…

Against the backdrop of half a century of research in mathematics problem solving, Polya's last stage is especially conspicuous--by the scarcity of research on it! Much of the research focused on the first three stages (J.M. Francisco and C.A. Maher, "Conditions for promoting reasoning in problem solving: Insights from a longitudinal…

In Singapore, primary school students are taught to use bar diagrams to represent known and unknown values in algebraic word problems. However, little is known about students' understanding of these graphical representations. We investigated whether students use and think of the bar diagrams in a concrete or a more abstract fashion. We also…

This study examined the use of authentic experiential-based videos in self-explanation activities on 32 polytechnic students' learning and motivation, using a mixed method quasi-experimental design. The control group analysed a set of six pre-recorded videos of a subject performing the standing broad jump (SBJ). The experimental group captured…

As part of a study on mathematical problem solving of secondary 2 (13- to 14-years old) students in Singapore, 56 Secondary two students from ten secondary schools participated in this study. The purpose of this paper is to explore difficulties faced by 56 Secondary 2 students when solving problems. These interviews were analysed using the…

Reviews literature on using a problem-solving approach in science instruction. Examines teaching strategies associated with such an approach and discusses a problem-solving approach that works in the traditional laboratory. Discusses implications of the approach and provides some suggestions for science instruction. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Metacognition is considered by most educationists to be an element necessary for many cognitive learning tasks. In general, within problem solving tasks, procedural, factual, and conceptual knowledge, by themselves, are insufficient for successful task completion. To be successful, the problem solver must usually demonstrate higher level cognitive…